1st Edition

Fragments of Inequality Social, Spatial and Evolutionary Analyses of Income Distribution

By Sanjoy Chakravorty Copyright 2006
    280 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    276 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Fragments of Inequality merges sociological, geospatial, and economic explanations of global inequality into a grand synthesis of the subject that breaks new ground by stressing the phenomenon's spatial foundations. Concentrating on inequality within and between regions, the book demonstrates that spatial inequality has increased in recent years. It employs modified evolutionary principles (i.e., punctuated equilibrium; not entirely smooth and linear in terms of chronological development) rather than the more abstract ones of rationality and self-interest that economists use, and on a fragmented rather than abstract conception of space. Global in its empirical coverage, it also addresses the current impact of economic globalization.

    Chapter 1. Theory and explanation. Error! Bookmark not defined.,Chapter 2. Patterns and Trends. Error! Bookmark not defined.,Chapter 3. Economic Theory and Income Distribution. Error! Bookmark not defined.,Chapter 4. Social Theory and Income Distribution. Error! Bookmark not defined.,Chapter 5. Punctuated Equilibria and Social Inequality,Chapter 6. Gradualism and spatial inequality. Error! Bookmark not defined.. Error! Bookmark not defined.,Chapter 7. Where We Stand. Error! Bookmark not defined.

    Biography

    Sanjoy Chakravorty is Associate Professor of Geography at Temple University.

    "By fragments Chakravorty refers both to how societies are fractured into unequal groups and territories, and to the fragmentation of academic disciplines that ponder the problem. He takes an interdisciplinary approach to the questions of why incomes are distributed the way they are, and how these distributions change. Theory and explanation, patterns and trends, economic and social theory, punctuated equilibria, and gradualism and spatial inequality are among his perspectives." --Reference & Research Book News

    'The book represents an original and innovative intial foray into understanding the sprawling topic of income inequality from a more informed, and contextualised platform.  For this reason alone, the book will be broadly appealing and important for years to come.' - Annals of the Association of American Geographers